Santa Barbara Airport hires firms for marketing campaign

The Santa Barbara Airport chose Hiltachk Marketing Group and Blaze PR for a marketing and outreach campaign to drum up business and fill seats.

The airport conducted a thorough bidding process before landing on Hiltachk, which has done marketing for the Sacramento International Airport since 2010, and Santa-Barbara based Blaze. The two will try to capture local traffic that currently flies out of Los Angeles or Burbank.

“It’s psychological consumerism,” founder Kimberlie Hiltachk said in a news release. “Travelers too often make a ticket purchase based on number of stops and price. We tend to forget that driving or taking a bus nearly 100 miles south on congested freeways comes at a significant personal and pocketbook cost.”

The airport serves around 700,000 passengers annually with 22 daily departures through American Airlines, Alaska Airlines and United Airlines. With the addition of larger Boeing and Airbus planes, the airport expects to see double-digit passenger growth, Hitachk said.

“As local residents, it behooves us to use SBA and root for its continued success,” said Erinn Lynch, vice president of Blaze. “Increased outbound traffic begets bigger planes, new carriers and destinations and price reductions. It’s a win-win for all of us.”